Footwear



i 0er, 15, 1940. R. MALING 2,217,913

` FOOTWEAR Filed June 1'1,- 1959 Patented Oct. 15,'l 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in footwear and methods of producing footwear. More particularly it provides improvements in the heel .and shank regions f shoes and slippers, whereby wedge type of heel construction adapted for producing footwear having a uniformly flat outsole extending over the full area of the bottom of a shoe. My present invention, while utilizing certain structural features as disclosed in said patent, provides definite improvements which are 'applicable in footwear having a conventional upcurving of the outsole at the shank for accommodating a heel.

It is an `object of the inventionto provide footwear wherein the shank curvature of the outsoles, and the height of heels, may be approximately uniform and wherein the shank curvature and inclination, which are to be embodied in the nished footwear, are denitely controllable for producing the effects and feel of footwear having heels of various greater heights.

Another object is to effect substantial economies in footwear manufacture, as compared with prior practices, by improved methods of' attaining heel-height effects by selective association of pre-formed shank elements.

A further object' is to provide in footwear so that a substantial part of the shank curvature and inclination may be attained by resilient means above the outsole and below the upper.

Still another feature resides in a laminated structure which lends itself to decorative treatments for attaining a variety of aesthetic effects.

The mentioned objects and results may be attained by employing a soleelement, which may be the outsole but which preferably will be a sole platform to which'the outsole may be secured, which may have shank curvature for accommodating a relatively low heel. The sole element preferably extends over the h eel region and the heely may be attached at its under side.

All of the shoes or slippers may be approximately uniform as to shankcurvature of their sole elements and as to height of their heels. But, according to the invention, a generally wedgeshaped unit is provided on the sole element, above the heel, and this unit has gradually curving', tapering extent into the shank region for` underlying the upper and for contributing shank curvature and inclination in the finished shoe.

In a preferred form, the Wedge unit will be composite of a plurality of pre-formed thinner wedge elements, which may, lf desired, be of resilient material. And any suitable number of these wedge elements may be superimposed one upon another to provide a shank curvature above the sole element which, added to the shank curvature of said sole element, will provide the effects and feel of a particular height of heel.

The wedge unit, or the individual wedge elements of the unit, may have bound edges providing aesthetic contrast. And, if desired, the heel may be a laminated construction with bound edges contributing to the general aesthetic effect.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claim, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is is a side elevation of the sole, shank and heel portions of a shoe embodying features of the invention;

Figure ,2 is a perspective of the sole platform of Figure 1 with a laminated wedge unit thereon;

Figure 3 is a side elevation illustrating the building up of a wedge unit on a sole element which might be a heavy outsole, or a platform will be a sole platform which may be of any suitable resilient material but which is represented in Figure 2 as being of matted fibre, pre-formed, and bound all around with a suitable edge binding l2. However, the sole element I0 may be the outsole, of leather or rubber or other Wear-resisting material.

Regardless of whether the sole element I 0 is an outsole, or is a platform for an outsole, it extends with shank curvature under the shank region and thence rearward to overlie'the heel I4, which, in Figure 1, is represented as of laminatedl construction. 'Ihe outsole I6 is secured to the under side of the platform, at the sole andl shank regions, and follows down the inclined breast of the heel and along the under face of the heel, to both of which it may be secured. According to the invention, the shank curvature of the sole element I0, and the height of the heel I 4, are to be approximately uniform in all of the footwear. And the effects and feel of heels of various greater heights may be attained by a generally wedge-shaped means provided between the sole element I0 and the upper I8. Such a wedge is represented at 2B in Figures l and 2,

where it comprises three superimposed laminations which individually are preformed to have a generally wedge shape with gradual curvature at their gradually thinning portions, whereby the composite wedge has curve and inclination composite of the individual curves.

The wedge unit 20 is arranged upon the sole element I0 with its thicker portion over the heel region and with its gradually thinning portion following along the shank curve of said element Within the shank region of the shoe. The upper surface of the wedge unit, having shank curvature and inclination composite of the individual curvatures of the laminations, determines the effective shank contour for fitting the arch of a wearers foot, and may provide little or great c variation from the shank curvature of the sole element l0. Although three laminations provide the wedge unit 20 of Figures 1 and 2, it will be obvious that a single one of the laminations might itself constitute the wedge unit, or a one piece wedge of any 'desired greater dimensions might be the wedge unit.

In any case, the wedge unit 20 may be of any suitable material, and matted fibre is represented in Figure 2. Also the wedge unit, or the individual laminations'thereof, may have bound edges elements.

for providing a nish and for contributing to a general aesthetic effect.

Figure 3 illustrates how wedge units of various heights may be provided by selection of a suitable number of pre-formed laminations. Also it suggests that the sole element l0 may be an outsole, and thatl the heel may be of any desired type.

Figure 4 shows the invention in conjunction with two laminatons inthe wedge unit, and shows the bound edges of the sole element and of the wedge laminations.

I claim as my invention:

A heel and shank structure for footwear comprising a multiplicity of lift elements superimposed one upon another, and having approximately uniform thickness at the heel region of the footwear; one of said elements extending forward as a platform for an outsole, and a plurality of others of said elements being below said one which extends forward, and another plurality of said elements being above the one which extends forward; each of said elements above the platform element having a wedge-shaped portion extending forward into the shank region, for combining with its neighbors to provide shank curvature; and said elements below the platform element terminating short of the shank and having a substantial total height determinative of a base curvature provided by said wedge portions of ROY MALING. 

